Painter Quotes by Leonardo da Vinci

Reprove your friend in secret and praise him openly.

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter who has no doubt about his own ability will attain very little.

— Leonardo da Vinci

That painter who has no doubts will achieve little.

— Leonardo da Vinci

If you call painting dumb poetry, the painter may call poetry blind painting.

— Leonardo da Vinci

It reflects no great honour on a painter to be able to execute one thing well.

— Leonardo da Vinci

A good painter is to paint two main things, men and the working of man's mind.

— Leonardo da Vinci

The good painter must paint two things: a person and the essence of his soul.

— Leonardo da Vinci

Being willing is not enough. We must do.

— Leonardo da Vinci

Men and words are ready made, and you, O Painter, if you do not know how to make your figures move, are…

— Leonardo da Vinci

The first object of the painter is to make a flat plane appear as a body in relief and projecting from that…

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter must be solitary. For if you are alone you are completely yourself, but if you are accompanied by a single…

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter or draftsman ought to be solitary, in order that the well-being of the body not sap the vigour of the…

— Leonardo da Vinci

Love shows itself more in adversity than in prosperity; as light does, which shines most where the place is darkest.

— Leonardo da Vinci

The mind of a painter should be like a mirror which is filled with as many images as there are things placed…

— Leonardo da Vinci

A good painter has two main objects to paint, man and the intention of his soul.

— Leonardo da Vinci

A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by…

— Leonardo da Vinci

O painter skilled in anatomy, beware lest the undue prominence of the bones, sinews and muscles cause you to become a wooden…

— Leonardo da Vinci

Although the poet has as wide a choice of subjects as the painter, his creations fail to afford as much satisfaction to…

— Leonardo da Vinci

O painter, take care lest the greed for gain prove a stronger incentive than renown in art, for to gain this renown…

— Leonardo da Vinci

The mind of the painter must resemble a mirror, which always takes the colour of the object it reflects and is completely…

— Leonardo da Vinci

Affective gestures pointing to things near either in time or space should be made with the hand not very far from the…

— Leonardo da Vinci

A painter was asked why, since he made such beautiful figures, which were but dead things, his children were so ugly; to…

— Leonardo da Vinci

One painter ought never to imitate the manner of any other; because in that case he cannot be called the child of…

— Leonardo da Vinci

Make your faces so that they do not all have the same expression, as one sees with most painters, but give them…

— Leonardo da Vinci

“If the painter has clumsy hands, he will be apt to introduce them into his works, and so of any other part…

— Leonardo da Vinci

Let the painter composing narrative pictures take pleasure in wealth and variety, and avoid repeating any part that occurs in it, so…

— Leonardo da Vinci

After painting comes Sculpture, a very noble art, but one that does not in the execution require the same supreme ingenuity as…

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter who is familiar with the nature of the sinews, muscles, and tendons, will know very well, in giving movement to…

— Leonardo da Vinci

It reflects no great honor on a painter to be able to execute only one thing well -- such as a head,…

— Leonardo da Vinci

I think it is no small attraction in a painter to be able to give a pleasing air to his figures, and…

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter strives and competes with nature.

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.

— Leonardo da Vinci

The poet ranks far below the painter in the representation of visible things, and far below the musician in that of invisible…

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter will produce pictures of little merit if he takes the works of others as his standard.

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter who draws by practise and judgment of the eye without the use of reason is like the mirror which reproduces…

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter's mind is a copy of the divine mind, since it operates freely in creating the many kinds of animals, plants,…

— Leonardo da Vinci

A good painter has two main objects to paint, man and the intention of his soul. The former is easy, the latter…

— Leonardo da Vinci

In fact, whatever exists in the universe, in essence, in appearance, in the imagination, the painter has first in his mind and…

— Leonardo da Vinci

The painter who draws merely by practice and by eye, without any reason, is like a mirror which copies every thing placed…

— Leonardo da Vinci